All They Want For Christmas Is...

So the holiday season is finally here. And what do we do to celebrate this tremendous occasion? Buy frivolous things in bulk, of course!

But I digress. Christmas is a pretty awesome holiday. Every year we always look forward to it and we attempt reflect on the year's milestones with our loved ones. That's if we're not knee-deep in newspaper ads or watching Christmas specials on television, of course. But regardless, this is the precise time to remember what's truly important in life.

It's not about the Playstation 3's, the iPod's or the ugly sweaters your grandma makes you every year (but admit it, you secretly really like them). It's about being thankful for everything you have in the here-and-now and giving to those who are unable to.

We have blown Christmas up into a business and a commodity rather than a celebration of what's important in our lives. Sit down, relax. The mall isn't going anywhere and you don't want to lug those big bags like a pack mule anyway. Instead, have a cup of hot chocolate and reminisce of holidays past. Plus, you don't have to get a gift receipt for that.

But despite the joy of the season we experience, we often take that for granted. We must remember those who don't have that luxury this time of year.

Instead of rushing into the store to get the "best prices" on materialistic things that may be used once or twice (if that at all), take a dollar or some pocket change and give it to a charity in front of the store every time you walk in. It may not be much (it's not like they're asking you to pull an Angelina Jolie or anything), but it goes a long way, and you can feel good about helping someone less fortunate out. Because that's what the season is all about, right? Right.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate is currently at 10 percent with a total of 135,000 jobs lost monthly. That means a lot of people won't be able to afford a Christmas this year.

As being a victim of this recession (twice!) and a victim of the seemingly unpredictable Unemployment Benefit Program, it's definitely hard to provide on meager wages set by the California government. But despite that, I'm thankful that I've managed to get back on my feet and am able to give a little bit of Christmas cheer this year.

Every Christmas I try and do a gift donation to a charity, like The Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree, and make someone's holiday a happy one. While looking at the wishlists this year, it's incredible that the simplest things are on the top of their Christmas list. Everything from a cartoon character toothbrush to even socks is what these kids want more than anything. It's also enlightening to me because we often take these things for granted, when some are struggling just to get the necessities.

So just remember not to be a Grinch and pay it forward. Not only will you be putting a smile on your loved ones' faces this Christmas, but you'll make others smile too. And happiness is one of the greatest gifts that you can give to others and yourself.

An Open Letter...

Dear Lady Gaga,

First of all, how can anyone with that name be taken seriously? Whenever I hear some little girl with multi-colored skinny jeans and ratty hair go, "Oh my gawd, did you hear that new Lady Gaga song?", I honestly think that it's the new version of The Wiggles or Sesame Street. Seriously, stop making me feel so old. I still have some kind of reputation to uphold with my 22 years of age, you know.

But that's besides the point. I'm writing because I have a bone to pick with you, Ms. Gaga. You've been popping up on my radar more times than I can count lately. From your little stunt on the MTV VMA's to your new album The Fame Monster, you've been the talk of the town when it comes to the purveyors of pop culture. And trust me when I say I read gossip blogs more than I'd like to admit.

It seems like you've gone beyond your cult popularity status in New York and Yahoo! searches trying to figure out if you're a man or not (which even I'm not entirely sure to this day). In all honesty, when your song "Just Dance" came out last year, I thought you were just going to be a one-hit wonder. Because let's face it, whatever song Akon touches loses a lot of credibility. "Konvict music"? Please.

But you've manage to claw your way up the charts with your hair bows, leotards and exploding bras. You're just full of surprises, aren't you?

Also, your music video for "Paparazzi" is what bad acid trips are made out of. Gilded suits and shoe licking? Okay. And stay away from my man Alexander Skarsgard while we're at it. I don't want you tainting his European awesomeness any more than you already have.

And you can't speak Swedish to save your life, by the way.

But through your kitsch and you looking eerily like a young Donatella Versace, I can't help but be sucked into your music, Madam Gaga. Your pop sensibility is undeniable and your appearance on Saturday Night Live made you incredibly likeable (I mean, who wouldn't want to pull Madonna's hair?). It almost made me want to go out and buy a bubble dress for myself. Kind of.

Your new album is so good that I've been playing it for weeks. My friends and I have already dubbed "Dance in the Dark" our official car jam; we get stares from old people when we sing along to it. Again, I do have a reputation that doesn't uphold itself! You think I like being laughed at by old people and teenagers in their fast cars? Hell to the no.

Oh, and your video for "Bad Romance" totally makes up for your lame earlier ones. Bear-skin robes and crazy eyes? Yes, please.

So, in short Lady Gaga, I have been converted to your pop-centric circus. I hope you're happy. I even became a fan on Facebook! Now that's dedication.

To be honest, you're not so bad after all. But girl, you gotta put some pants on.

So This Is Why They Call It "Black Friday"...

Thanksgiving. So we meet again.

It's the season for gluttony and watching "It's Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown!". But I have to admit, I did partake in both activities. And no, I didn't feel bad.

Thanksgiving for my family is usually quiet and low-key. Our tradition goes as follows: we help make the food, we eat the food, say what we're thankful for this year and then go into a tryptophan-induced coma. Is it conventional? No. But it works.

But this particular Thanksgiving was different. This year, I was going to endure my first Black Friday shopping adventure.

After our hour-long nap, my mom and I convened to buy a paper to look over the ads to plan our route. Little did we know, trying to find one on Thanksgiving would turn into a two-hour goose chase. I knew this was a sign of things to come.

We plan what stores to swarm, get a team compiled of my mom, my godmother, her 10-year-old daughter Emily, and I. The meeting time was 7 a.m. (even though Emily insisted we meet at 3 a.m.) in Folsom. I was pumped.

The excitement went away when I woke up at 5 a.m. I don't even remember the last time I left the house and it was still dark outside. A trip to Starbucks was definitely in order, even though it took almost 20 minutes to get my precious caffeine.

Fast forward to Folsom. We start at a small shopping center that conveniently had all the shops we wanted to hit. What wasn't convenient was that it started to pour rain and I hadn't worn the most appropriate attire. I blame the weather man for telling me lies the night before.

After hitting several stores to no avail, we go to the mother of all Black Friday sales: Target. Little did I know that I would have to bust some elbows trying to make my way through the store. Not only did it look like a tornado had gone through the store, but the amount of rude old women fighting over Wii games was too much for me to handle. We left to the outlets in hopes of better luck.

Bad idea.

The place was swarming with the most boorish people I have ever seen. So much for this season being jolly. Plus, I was feeling the effects of 9 hours straight of shopping.

As I sat down on a bench in the Puma outlet to rest my weary feet among the mass of people trying on ghastly overpriced shoes, a young couple decided it would be a great idea to scoot me off the bench in order to get some cuddle time in.

Enough was enough.

I got up, gave the couple a dirty look and blatantly told the two to "get a room". I stormed out of the store, whispering obscenities under my breath, which led to a loud 5 minute rant to my godmother. Why must people go out of their way to make others miserable? And there's a time and a place for cupcaking. The Puma outlet on Black Friday definitely not being one of them.

I took a deep breath, and realized a negative attitude was not going to get me anywhere. Plus Emily was nice enough to buy me a soda with her own money (which was a BIG deal). I regrouped and proceeded to Banana Republic. Hey, everything in the store was 50 percent off. You can't beat that!

The shopping day ended with a spontaneous thunder storm, which to me was a symbol that we should cut our Black Friday loses and drown our sorrows (and hurt feet) in beer and pizza. Sadly, the pizza was probably the highlight of my Black Friday.

Would I do it over again? Maybe. If I was ensured I got my coffee in less than 20 minutes and I wouldn't want to shank someone prison style in an outlet mall.

My Life, The Rollercoaster

"If I don't get this job, I swear I'm going to punch a baby."

It seemed like an eternity driving on I-80 going to the Contractors State License Board, the location of my latest job interview. Nine Inch Nails blaring in my car, the bass making my old '97 RAV4 shake like a tin can to drown my chaotic mind.

My mind was racing with the million-and-one things going on that day. This interview, a phone interview from unemployment (which I was dead set on getting off of. Holding my check for 3 weeks for saying I sent my claim "late"? No ma'am.), going to class (which my homework was still not done for) and then taking my dog to the vet. Yeah, multitasking!

It was 10:30 a.m. when I pulled into the small parking lot. Great, 30 minutes to study what I had written the night before: a page of all my star qualities that made me a shoo-in for the student assistant position.

10:35 a.m., I decided to play on my phone instead.

I walked into the vast white lobby around 10:45 a.m. I wanted to get it over with, and getting to level 10 on Brick Breaker got kind of tedious after a while. I got my visitor's pass and took a seat waiting anxiously for whoever it was to come fetch me from the boring blue and gray reception area. I can only look at portraits of ugly old white men trying to find solace in them for so long.

Before I knew it, the interview commenced.

"Tell us a little about yourself."

"What are your strengths?"

"How do you see yourself fitting into our office?"

All the while, the inner voice is going, "S@%$, I don't remember what I wrote down!"

With a smile and a handshake, it was over. I looked at my cellphone and only had 30 minutes to book it home. At least the drive didn't seem as perilous.

I came home to dog vomit on the carpet and my dog looking like death itself. Great. The dog totally took away my post-job-interview high. I text my mom to let her know the developments. She was on her way home.

The phone rings. The the timid lady from unemployment gives me a slap on the wrist for "turning in my claim late". Really? Goes to show our tax dollars at work for wasting five minutes of my life with a "warning". I'm still bitter.

Mom comes home and looked at the dog, who by now is laying on a Winnie the Pooh towel along with her favorite toy I had provided for her and foaming at the mouth. We loaded her up into the car and speculated the causes of her ailment.

Stomach flu? Food allergy? Stress? The possibilities were endless.

All theories were blown away when the vet came in and gave us the diagnosis.

Parvo Virus.

My mother and I just began to cry uncontrollably. We thought it was certain death for our beloved dog. And when I looked at the clock, homework and class just didn't matter any more.

But, oh, what $300 and some begging can get you. They sent us home with some IV fluid bags to give to the dog, which meant we had to stick 18-gauge needles into her every six hours. Yuck!

We came home. Collectively defeated. I hoped the next day would be better.

And lo-and-behold, it was. The next day I got the job, I got my unemployment check in the mail, found out the class was canceled and my dog has since made a full recovery.

You just have to roll with the punches. No matter how hard they are.

Leah Garchik, the Original Gossip Girl

With everything going on in the city of San Francisco, it can be a little chaotic. This includes the people and the places, but there's nothing like a little about-town gossip and eavesdropping to make things even more interesting. Thankfully, Leah Garchik puts all of this and more into her daily column for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Garchik, a Brooklyn native and "a woman who has never owned a car with push-button windows", is married to her husband, Jerry, and has two sons, Sam and Jacob. Although her educational background is not clear, she states that she "...typed to put [her] husband through Harvard Law School".

She began her career at The Chronicle in 1984 where she began writing her daily gossip column. Garchik's column has earned notoriety and acclaim with being named "Best Items Column" in the country in 1992 by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and being named "Best Columnist" by San Francisco Bay Area Publicity Club for 1998, 2001 and 2004. She was also named "Best Gossip" in a San Francisco Chronicle readers' poll.

Garchik has a no-holds-barred approach to her column, letting the subject of her written assault make their bed and Garchik making them sleep in it. She also states that "the further away they are, the nastier I am." This can be exemplified in her latest column about author Stephen Elliot:

"Stephen Elliott has been promoting his newest book, a memoir called The Adderall Diaries, with a series of readings at private homes around the country. Many guests have never been to a book reading before, and Elliott calls the tour 'like a giant sociology study.' (His Bay Area readings start this week.)

'Last night in Fort Lauderdale,' he e-mailed last week, 'I made out with a girl at the home event who made a point of telling me she hadn't bought my book. I think she thought that since we were making out I would give her a book, and I felt that because we were making out she would certainly buy one.'"

What also makes her column so unique is that not only does she let you live vicariously through her in order to get in on exclusive events and get the skinny on local and international celebrities, but she lets the reader themselves in on the fun. Garchik's column includes reader-submitted quotes from eavesdropping around town. This particular aspect has become so popular that she's compiled a book titled Real Life Romance filled with bits of romance advice overheard around San Francisco.

It's important as a writer to be versatile, and Garchik brings just that with her column. One can't be too sure where she'll end up. One time she could be at an opera performance, critiquing an actress' choice of dress, to a charity event among such stars as Nicholas Cage and Maria Menounos. I mean, if you consider them stars, anyway.

The random nature of Garchik's column brings a breath of fresh air amidst a time where columns are dominated by news and politics. She brings fun and a sense of accessibility to her writing, which seems to bring readers coming back for more. Who doesn't want to see public figures cut down to size once and a while?

And let's be honest, a little gossip never hurt anybody either.

The Habit Burger Grill: A Tragic Tale

Hidden discretely in a small strip mall in the heart of Elk Grove's Laguna area lies The Habit Burger Grill. And frankly, it should remain hidden for a long, long time.

If you're looking for a menu void of variety, outrageous prices and mediocre food, then The Habit is the perfect place for you to waste your money.

Upon entering The Habit, one might think that it's the poor-man's In-n-Out Burger, but The Habit doesn't even deserve to be compared to that establishment. It's a seat-yourself-while-waiting-for-your-number kind of restaurant decked out in every kind of brown you can imagine.

Brown counters, brown tables, brown seats and brown tile. Yeah, this place screams fun and excitement.

The Habit has both patio and booth seating with majority of said seats being against windows. While window seats are just dandy, looking at a barren parking lot and the occasional bird picking at fries left on the ground is not necessarily scenic.

The menu brings two kinds of emotions: disappointment and shock.

Disappointment comes from the ability to order only three kinds of food: burgers (called "Charburgers", and if that's not pretentious I don't know what is), sandwiches and salads. And the choices from what's available is even more restricting with each having each food item having about four or five variations. These include your run-of-the-mill cheeseburgers and chicken club sandwiches. Yawn. It's underwhelming to say the least.

Shock comes from jaw-dropping prices listed on the menu above the cashier. A burger from The Habit costs an average of $7 or $8. And don't think by taking the healthy route will save you either; a salad and a small drink comes up to a total of nearly $10. It just doesn't seem very fair since the extent of making it is throwing lettuce, chicken and dressing on a plate. Needless to say, one has to feel a bit cheated and has to wonder where all of this money is going.

While ordering the salad the friendly cashier asked if I wanted to have teriyaki drizzled on my caesar salad. Uh, teriyaki and ceasar dressing? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but looking back, nothing could have saved this salad.

The time it took to actually get the salad seemed a bit outrageous, as it seemed everyone else got their order much faster. You would think that the salad was easiest thing to make!

Mmm... tastes like failure.
After sitting down with soda in hand and taking the first bite of this salad, the taste of dirty socks and old lettuce filled my mouth causing a cringe or two. I wondered what I had done to deserve such a revolting taste in my mouth, but then I remembered it wasn't me, the salad was just downright disgusting. And to top it off, the chicken tasted as if it were made out of rubber. Tasty.

Ten dollars apparently gets you a life-affirming experience, questionable breath and a small drink these days.

Even though The Habit does have a clean atmosphere and friendly staff, it doesn't make up for the lack of quality of their food. Funny, since their slogan is "There's no substitute for quality!"

Yes, there is, and that substitute is eating somewhere else.

Muse's "The Resistance": A Review

Let's just get it out there: sci-fi rock operas are all kinds of awesome.

With that said, coming with something straight out of the pages of Orwell's 1984, the British sensation Muse releases The Resistance. Muse, whose popularity has grown rapidly in the states with being featured on the soundtrack for the movie Twilight, brings more of their science fiction-tinged rock. But this time around, the band adds even more layers to their sound; from straight up Queen-esque rock anthems to the classical stylings from Chopin, there's a lot to take in, which says a lot coming from Muse.

Despite the complexity of the album, the Teignmouth trio manage to pull off the genre bending. Who would have ever thought Freddie Mercury and Chopin would ever come together, let alone sound so good?

The album opens with the pulsing, clap-your-hands worthy anthem "Uprising". This track tends to set the mood for the rest of the album, and that mood is sticking it to the man! Guitarist and vocalist Matt Bellamy (and, let's face it, pretty much the sole writer and composer of the album) sets the bleak scenario filled with governmental totalitarianism and mind control. And you know what, he's just not going to take it anymore!

But let's be honest, it does speak to many as we all have a little rebel that wants to act out inside of us, right?

The next track, "The Resistance", follows closely in suit, painting a world filled with "thought police" and the need to go into constant hiding. Weirdly enough, the song at times tends to have a happy melody to it.

Yay! Despair!

Albeit the doom and gloom, the track is extremely catchy, and you'll probably find yourself singing along.

The track "Undisclosed Desires" is one of the redheaded step-children of the album. Upon hearing it for the first time, the listener may ask why Timbaland or Lady GaGa showed up randomly on their Muse CD. The rythm-heavy song seems to be way out of left field, and would actually be better suited as a b-side.

The epic gets cranked up a notch with the track "United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)", which can be considered as Muse's magnum opus of The Resistance. The track is just so energetic that you'll probably pull a Wayne's World and thrash around the car. No joke. This track is definitely a strong point in the album having a good balance of energy and subtly.

Another track that tends to stick out like a sore thumb is "I Belong To You (+Mon Cœur S'ouvre À Ta Voix)". Try saying that three times fast. Anyway, the track has its high points, but the lyrics and odd bass line makes it a track to pass on. The cringe-fest only gets worse when Bellamy attempts to speak French. And by "attempts", I mean he totally butchers it. And it has a clarinet solo. Yes, a clarinet solo.

The album finishes with a trifecta of "symphonies", each having their own distinctive feel to them. These tracks sound like they could come straight out of a movie or Italian opera, which is pretty much what Muse was going for. The tracks are heavy on instrumentation and bring the album around full circle, which makes the journey quite enjoyable. If you want to find out the ending to Muse's space opera, you'll have to listen for yourself.

The Resistance may be foreign to many expecting to see more of the same from Muse and might be written off at first listen, but when given the chance, the album is definitely a grower. The concept of the album is interesting itself, and provides a fun musical ride for the listener. All in all, despite some bumps in the road, Muse succeeds in making an operatic and epic album.

The Resistance is in stores now.

http://muse.mu
http://www.myspace.com/muse